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Sandra Bullock Biography

Sandra Bullock is a famous American-German actress , producer, and philanthropist. She is best known for her awards In films such as Speed, The Proposal, The Blind Side, and Gravity. Bullock is a recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Critics’ Choice Movie Awards. In addition, she was the world’s highest-paid actress in both 2010 and 2014.

Sandra was also chosen as the People’s Most Beautiful Woman in 2015 as well as featured in Time’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2010.

Actress Sandra was born on July 26, 1964, in Arlington, Virginia to her parents; a German opera singer and a voice teacher. She majorly grew on the road as she made a lot of traveling at a young age. Annette Bullock joined music and dance classes at a young age and as she traveled through Europe, made her first stage appearance at the age of 5 years. This was a small role for an opera in Nuremberg, Germany. This performance was very influential to her as it made her develop a deep love for the stage. She even began featuring regularly in the Nuremberg children’s choir.

At the age of 12, her family relocated back to Washington D.C. where she joined Washington-Lee High School. She took no time to fit in and soon became involved in cheerleading and school theatre productions until she graduated in 1982. Sandra then enrolled at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, to pursue acting where she received a BFA in Drama in 1987.

…….

While at the university, she performed in multiple theatre productions including Peter Pan and Three Sisters. She then relocated to Manhattan, New York, where she worked as a bartender, cocktail waitress, and coat checker to support herself as she went through auditions for roles. However, she left the college three credits prior to her graduation and relocated to New York

Sandra began her initial debut in her career while in New York where she took acting classes with Sanford Meisner. She featured in various student films later landing herself a role in an Off-Broadway play, No Time Flat. The script director, Alan J. Levi was impressed by Bullock’s performance and gave her a role in the made-for-television film, Bionic Shodown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman (1989).

This cast opened her doors as she was soon featured in a series of small tasks in several independent films. Similarly, she was cast in the lead role of the short-lived NBC television of film; Working Girl (1990). She went on to star in several other films including the 1992 Love Potion No.9, The Thing Called Love, and Fire on the Amazon both in 1993. In the same year 1993, Sandra rose to cast a supporting role in the sci-fi action film; Demolition Man.

Bullock made her breakthrough in 1994 after she played Anne Porter in the film Speed alongside Keanu Reeves. This film gained acclaim from Rotten Tomatoes which regarded it as a terrific popcorn thriller having outstanding performances from Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, and Sandra Bullock. It in return gave US$350 million worldwide. This was indeed a good return for a start.

After the success of this film, she established herself as a Hollywood leading actress. In 1995, Sandra was featured in a romantic comedy; While You Were Sleeping, casting a lonely Chicago Transit Authority token collector. This film in return made them $182 million worldwide. In addition. she got her first Golden Award nomination for Best Actress in Motion Picture Musical.

Sandra Bullock Age

How old is Sandra Bullock? Sandra is 59 years old as of July 2023. She was born on July 26, 1964 , in Arlington, Virginia, the United States of America. In addition, Sandra celebrates her birthday on July 26th every year.

Sandra Bullock Husband | Boyfriend

Sandra is currently dating her boyfriend , Bryan Randall , a well-recognized photographer in Los Angeles. However, she was married to Jesse Gregory James , an American television personality and the former CEO of Austin; A Texas-based speed shop. She was also once engaged to actor Tate Donovan, dated football player Troy Aikman, and actors Matthew McConaughey and Ryan Gosling.

Sandra Bullock Children | Kids

Sandra has two adopted kids Louis Bardo Bullock and Laila Bullock . Moreover, Randall her boyfriend has a daughter Skyler . The two are dedicated to parenthood; Randall fills in as the father while Bullock fills in as the mother in the house.

Sandra Bullock’s Net Worth

Sandra Bullock has an estimated net worth of $250 million . This is from her work in numerous commercially successful films and winning several prestigious awards. In addition, she is one of the most iconic and influential actresses in the world.

Sandra Bullock Movies

From 1995 to date, Bullock has made the best out of acting with amazing films. We have serially summarized her films from then up to date. Her casts were as follows:

• The Net (1995) – Casting as a computer programmer
• A Time To Kill (1998) – cast as a defense team member
• Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997)
• Hope Floats (1998)
• Practical Magic (1998) – Casting as two witch sisters alongside Nicole Kidman
• Murder by Numbers (2002) – as a seasoned homicide detective.
• Two Weeks Notice (2002) – starring as a lawyer who walks out on her boss
• Crash (2004) – cast as the wife of a district attorney
• The Lake House (2006) – alongside Keanu Reeves
• Premonition (2007) – cast as a housewife
• The Heat (2013) – as an FBI Special Agent
• Minions (2015) – cast the voice of the villain.
• Bird Box (2018)

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A Deep Dive Into Sandra Bullock's Life And Career

From runaway buses to big-time beauty pageants, Sandra Bullock has made a name for herself as the witty, wonderful "America's Sweetheart" in Hollywood. She first stole audiences' hearts on the big screen in 1992's quirky rom-com"Love Potion No. 9," which kickstarted a career that has spanned more than 50 films spread across more than three decades of moviemaking.

But it's her versatility in her craft that has kept her a household name since the beginning of her career. She's earned acclaim across multiple cinematic planes, from the football field sidelines in her Oscar-winning turn in 2009's "The Blind Side" to the depths of deep space in 2013's "Gravity."

However, "actress" isn't the only hat that Bullock wears these days. There's also producer, humanitarian, partner, and mother, plus many more to spare. "It's just too much if you make your career everything," the starlet has been quoted as saying. "It is everything when you're doing it. But you have to find things you love just as much."

Growing up the girl next door

Before she was dubbed "America's Sweetheart", Sandra Annette Bullock was the "girl next door" from Arlington, Virginia. Bullock was born on July 26, 1964, to parents John, a voice teacher, and Helga, a German opera singer. Although Bullock and her younger sister, Gesine, spent most of their childhood in Nuremberg, Germany, the duo also spent plenty of time on the road with their parents. 

In fact, the so-called "Sandy" would perform in the children's choir during her mother's performances. "My parents kept an incredibly tight rein on me," Bullock told the Los Angeles Times . "People kept telling my mother that I was the devil's child because I would never listen." Despite her penchant for testing the limits, the performing bug stuck around as she grew up. Bullock studied drama at East Carolina University after graduating from high school, where she starred in productions including "Peter Pan" and "Three Sisters."

She also continued to find fun in her downtime, which eventually inspired a TV series based on her college years. During an interview with Ellen DeGeneres , Bullock revealed a "weird" way that she made some extra cash during her studies. "I used to open up for drag queens in North Carolina by dancing," she shared. Looks like those skills came full circle later on in her career...

Actor by day, server by night

After college, Sandra Bullock moved to New York City to continue studying acting. She trained with influential theater teacher Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in 1986. "[Meisner] taught me to have real respect for the other actor," Bullock told the Los Angeles Times early in her career. According to Backstage, the Meisner method of acting focuses on instinct and is very discipline-driven, something that Bullock has carried into her films throughout her career.

To pay for her training, Bullock filled a series of odd jobs around New York City, including bartending in questionable hangouts . She eventually landed an off-Broadway role in "No Time Flat," which led to a role as the Bionic Woman in the made-for-TV reboot crossover flick "Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman" in 1989. "I think people can relate to [this reboot] a lot more because they're bringing the human side," she told Entertainment Tonight at the time with her signature comedic flair. "You know, I can fall down a flight of stairs. I can say something stupid... as we've seen on this interview."

She continued the trend of stepping into iconic roles, as one of her next gigs was as Tess McGill, made famous by Melanie Griffith, in the short-lived TV series based on "Working Girl." "I come to work thinking 'I'm getting paid for this?'" she told E! News in 1990. "It's really great. It's a job I wish everybody could have."

Love Potion No. 9 leads to stardom

Sandra Bullock hit the big time in 1992 with a lead role opposite future flame Tate Donovan in "Love Potion No. 9," playing a loveless scientist who experiments with a so-called love potion that makes a person irresistible. This marked Bullock's first rom-com blockbuster, something that would later come to define her career. But in the roles following her breakthrough, Bullock initially turned to action thrillers to entertain audiences. 

In 1993, she starred as a 21st-century policewoman in a romance with action hero Sylvester Stallone in the now cult classic "Demolition Man." "[The love scene with Stallone] was the second day that I worked," she shared in a 1993 interview . "What was difficult is that it was a love scene and you couldn't touch him. [You're] like three feet away and [they say] 'Now be sexy!' ...So it was a little uncomfortable, [but] Sly was really good about it."

From there, she joined Keanu Reeves as a bus driver on a dangerous route in 1995's "Speed," which is often referred to as her breakout role. The film was a huge box office success , bringing in almost $300 million from the worldwide box office. This also marked her first collaboration with Reeves, spurring dating rumors that have progressed for decades . "She's a beautiful lady," Reeves said in a 1995 interview . "She has such a wonderful energy about her and [in] life."

Bullock becomes America's Sweetheart

It wasn't just the action-packed flicks that had audiences flocking to see Sandra Bullock in theatres. She also became a romantic-comedy queen, starring in some of the most beloved rom-coms of the 1990s. Her role as lonely Lucy Moderatz in 1995's "While You Were Sleeping" became an all-time favorite for movie fans and the cast themselves. "It was the most fun I have ever had on a film," Bullock told The Washington Post  in 2020. "I don't think I ever slept. Everything about that experience was magical."

Following the success of "Sleeping," Bullock was named "America's Sweetheart" by Vanity Fair and continued starring in films that tickled even the ficklest of hearts. In 1998, she led the casts of both "Hope Floats" and "Practical Magic." While both films did not reach the financial success of "Sleeping," they became films synonymous with Sandy. "The thing that is so endearing about Sandy is that she is normal," director Bill Bennett, who directed Bullock in "Two If By Sea," told Vanity Fair. 

But earning the nickname of "America's Sweetheart" stirred up comparisons to another beloved American actor, Julia Roberts, in terms of their leading lady and highest-paid actor status . Bullock has even poked fun at the faux rivalry between her and Roberts. "Apparently, you and I are in a dispute over George Clooney," she joked while accepting the 2014 Desert Palm Achievement Award at the 25th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival. "We talked about this, right? We share custody, and we are both fine with it!

The 21st century ushered in a peak popularity era for Sandra Bullock. In 2000, "Miss Congeniality" exploded at the box office and created classic movie moments and memes that have stood the test of time. Bullock has even likened her character of gruff FBI agent turned undercover beauty queen Grace Hart to herself in real life, with both sides of the character reflecting both sides of herself. "I might dress like a slob [in reality], but I realize I am very much the girl," she joked to Entertainment Tonight .

In 2002, she struck rom-com gold again, this time opposite Hugh Grant in "Two Weeks Notice." That same year, she made a dark turn in the gritty "Murder by Numbers" alongside the then-up-and-coming Ryan Gosling. "I always like doing what I'm not doing at that time," she once joked . "[But] I'll never stop doing comedy because it's just the greatest form of entertainment... There's sort of a nice addictive challenge to that, to see if you can pull off a joke."

Throughout the 2000s, Bullock continued to widen her cinematic horizons. From roles in Oscar-nominated dramas like 2004's all-star ensemble "Crash" to returning to her rom-com roots in 2009's "The Proposal," opposite Ryan Reynolds, Bullock remained a mainstay for the theater-going crowd throughout the entire decade. "I don't do anything anymore that feels safe," Bullock said in a 2005 interview with  Today . "If it doesn't scare the crap out of you, then you're not doing the right thing."

The founding of Fortis Films

Right in the middle of her 1990's blockbuster breakthrough, Sandra Bullock founded her own production company, Fortis Films. Initially, while Bullock served as executive producer and figurehead, her younger sister Gesine Bullock-Prado acted as president. The two formed a staff of executives that has continued to produce films and television shows into the 2020s. "It seemed like a natural move," Bullock-Prado told Variety.  "[Sandy] wanted to find things [that were] not coming her way and develop things that she wants to do — as well as passion projects."

Fortis' first project was 1998's "Hope Floats," which Bullock both executive produced and starred in. "Sandy read it very early, and went after it," her sister shared with Variety. "The newfound freedom [of executive producing] allowed Sandy to have a voice in how film developed." Many of Bullock's films since "Floats" have been under the Fortis Films umbrella, from 2002's "Two Weeks Notice" to 2022's "The Lost City." She also branched into television producing with comedian George Lopez's self-titled sitcom from 2002 to 2007. 

Bullock has remained a champion of untold stories throughout her career, and Fortis Films has  dedicated her producing platform to sharing those stories and the people behind them. "​​If it wasn't for [Sandy's] involvement in me, or her belief in me, I would have had a very different last 10 years," Lopez shared with People Magazine in 2011.

Romance blossoms on and off set

Some of Sandra Bullock's biggest real-life romances have transferred from the screen. The earliest example of this is her relationship with Tate Donovan, her co-star from "Love Potion No. 9." The two broke things off after four years together in the mid-90s. "I adored Tate so much," she told Vanity Fair  in 1995. "There's nobody that means more to me, and I know for a fact that I mean the most to him, in that certain way. I can't explain why things worked out the way they did. We both know why it happened."

While filming "A Time To Kill" in 1996, she was linked to co-star Matthew McConaughey . Things between this pairing didn't last long, but the two remain friends. "There's a great amount of respect and love [between us]," Bullock told Cosmopolitan in 2003. "No matter where he is in his life or where I am in mine — he could be married — I know we would stay close." Notably, Bullock's bevy of A-List boyfriends doesn't stop there. 

From 2002 to 2003, Sandra Bullock and Ryan Gosling were also an item after starring in 2002's "Murder by Numbers" together. Gosling even referred to her as "one of the greatest girlfriends of all time" in a 2011 interview with The Times (via  US Weekly ). A few other hunks have made the rounds in Bullock's dating rumor mill, including Chris Evans. But one of Bullock's longest (and most publicized) relationships had a spotlight shone on it for all of the wrong reasons...

It was the best (and worst) of times in 2010

2010 was a year of tops and bottoms for Sandra Bullock. It was the year that she won her first Academy Award for her role in "The Blind Side," where she played the adoptive mother of a young football prodigy. The buzz around the film, which was based on a true story, and Bullock's subsequent awards recognition, became a whirlwind. ​​"[This experience] has felt for me like the week following the release of 'Speed,'" she told MTV News . "[It's] strange, and [I'm] confused how I got here."

By March 2010, Bullock graced the Oscars stage to accept the best actress statuette. She gave a heartfelt speech in which she thanked her husband at the time, gruff reality TV star Jesse James. But not long after the shining moment, their relationship came to a halt. Reports of infidelity on James' part, along with his penchant for wearing Nazi regalia, shocked the world and caused Bullock to file for divorce in April 2010.

But Bullock turned her focus from grief in order to take care of her then-infant son, Louie. "How do you process grief and not hurt your child in the process," Bullock shared in 2022 with CBS Sunday Morning . "It's a newborn, they take on everything that you're feeling. So, my obligation was to him and not tainting the first year of his life with my grief."

Bullock has faced losses in her family

Sandra Bullock has generally been forward about her relationship with her family, who were also immersed in the entertainment business. Her mother, opera singer Helga Mathilde Meyer, passed away in 2000 after a years-long battle with cancer. Bullock utilized her trademark wit to open up about the difficult loss during a 2000 appearance on "The View."  "In a weird way, we had five years to fix and hear everything," she explained. "It's almost like we were giving that blessing and that is the way we look at it."

18 years later, Bullock's  father John passed away . To add to the matter, Bullock also said goodbye to two of her beloved dogs around the same time. "​​Life, I realize, happens whether you schedule it or not," she shared on "The Ellen Show." "That just blew my mind this year ... my dad died, and then while my dad was failing, we get a call that ... our dog Ruby, the two-legger, had a stroke. ...It's life, but when you lose your little rides-or-die, it makes things different."

Even through her grief, Bullock still kept a connection to her family alive with her two children, son Louis and daughter Laila. "I just want [my mother] to see how everything is okay," she told Hoda Kotb on "Today." "I truly think that she had a hand in it, you know? I think she had a hand in the gifts. So I just want her to see that we're okay."

Her light shines bright as a mom and humanitarian

A devoted humanitarian and even more devoted parent, Sandra Bullock stays grounded by giving back to what is near and dear to her heart. The actress, who has been named to Forbes' highest-earning actress list twice , has made a number of charitable contributions to a variety of causes over the years, from COVID-19 first responders to an underserved charter school in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans has become a special place for Bullock, who has a residence in the area.  

It is also the place where she adopted her oldest child, son Louis, in 2010. "The first time I met Louis it was like the whole outside world just got quiet," she shared with HELLO! Magazine. "All the trivial things that I had allowed to take up so much of my time just didn't have room in my life anymore." She adopted her second child , daughter Laila, in the same state, settling into what are now her home roots. While growing her family is something that had always been a dream of hers, she has used her platform to speak about the different ways that families can be formed. 

"Sometimes you are born into a family, and sometimes you need to go find it," she said in an acceptance speech at the 2019 MTV Movie Awards. "Sometimes it finds you. No matter how it comes together, when it does, family is what you fight for, family is what you protect."

Sandy steps back from acting... for now

After almost 35 years in the business, Sandra Bullock revealed her plans to take a step back from acting for the foreseeable future. In 2022, Bullock announced that she would be taking a step back from acting. While promoting "The Lost City," she explained that while acting is a "24/7" job, it's not the one she wants to focus on at the moment. "I take my job very seriously when I'm at work," she told Entertainment Tonight . "And I just want to be 24/7 with my babies and my family."

But it's not just her family that is causing her to take a step back. After starring in around 50 films, it was Bullock's proactive choice to preserve herself that helped inspire her to move in a different direction. "I don't want to be beholden to anyone's schedule other than my own," Bullock told The Hollywood Reporter. "I'm so burnt out. I'm so tired, and I'm so not capable of making healthy, smart decisions and I know it." 

But even if or when she makes her return to the silver screen, don't get your hopes up for a "Miss Congeniality 3." At least, it can be assumed based on what she told Metro UK ... "God no! No, no. God no! [The second film] shouldn't have been done but I'm glad that it did because of [co-star] Regina [King], who I just freaking adore. That one should have remained a one-off."

Sandra Bullock

Music department.

IMDbPro Starmeter Top 500 87

• Contact info
• 81 wins & 122 nominations total

Fashion On Screen

Photos 1263

• producer (produced by, p.g.a.)

• executive producer

• 120 episodes

• Pre-production

• Loretta Sage
• Ruth Slater

• Debbie Ocean

• Scarlet Overkill (voice)

• Dr. Ryan Stone (voice)

• Linda Schell

• Leigh Anne Tuohy
• Mary Horowitz
• Margaret Tate

• Linda Hanson
• executive producer: soundtrack album
• executive soundtrack album producer

• executive soundtrack producer (uncredited)
• In-development projects at IMDbPro

Personal details

• 5′ 7½″ (1.71 m)
• July 26 , 1964
• Arlington, Virginia, USA
• Jesse James July 16, 2005 - June 28, 2010 (divorced)
• Children Laila Bullock
• Parents Helga Bullock
• Relatives Gesine Bullock-Prado (Sibling)
• Other works No Time Flat (play), character: Carolina
• 29 Interviews
• 56 Articles
• 20 Pictorials
• 112 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

• Trivia By starring in The Blind Side (2009) she became the only actress to date to have a film marketed with her name solely above the title (i.e. based on her star power alone, and not a franchise or tent pole picture) pass the $200 million mark in domestic gross.
• Quotes (on marital plans) I've always been very sceptical about marriage, because I only want to do it once; I want to do it the right way.
• America's Sweetheart
• The Girl Next Door
• Salaries The Lost City ( 2022 ) $20,000,000
• How old is Sandra Bullock?
• When was Sandra Bullock born?
• Where was Sandra Bullock born?

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Sandra Day O’Connor

• Born:  March 26, 1930 in El Paso, Texas
• Parents:  Harry Alfred ("D.A.") (1898-1984) and Ada Mae ("M.O.") Day (1904-1989)
• Siblings:  Alan Day (1939- ), Ann Day (1938-2016)
• Education:  Stanford University (BA Economics, 1950), Stanford Law School (LLB, 1952)
• Spouse:  John Jay O'Connor III (1930-2009, married 1952)
• Children:  Scott O'Connor (1957- ), Brian O'Connor (1960- ), Jay O'Connor (1962- )
• Nominated to Supreme Court by:  President Ronald Reagan
• Sworn in: September 25, 1981
• Supreme Court service: 1981-2006
• Died: December 1, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona

Our nation's first female Supreme Court justice and first female majority leader of any state legislative upper house, Justice O'Connor is a peerless trailblazer who has left a lasting impact on the history of the United States. Her legacy lives on through the Sandra Day O'Connor Institute, which she founded in 2009 to advance civil discourse, civic engagement, and civics education.

Sandra Day O'Connor made history in 1981 when she was sworn in by then Chief Justice Warren Burger as the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court in its 191-year history.   Appointed by President Ronald Reagan, it was O'Connor’s intelligence and grit that made her a transformational figure in the nation's highest court of law.

Sandra Day O'Connor was born in El Paso, Texas on March 26, 1930. Her parents, Harry “D.A.” and Ada Mae “M.O.” Day, owned a cattle ranch in southeastern Arizona, the Lazy B, the largest and most successful ranch in the region.  In the beginning, the remote ranch did not have electricity or running water.  As a result, Sandra grew up becoming resourceful, including branding cattle and learning to fix whatever was broken, all the while enjoying life on the ranch.

Her experiences on the Lazy B unequivocally helped shaped her character as she developed her belief in hard work, yet her parents also wanted O'Connor to gain a good education.  Living in such a remote area, the school options were limited, and she had already shown that she was quite bright. By age four, she learned how to read. Exploring places and schools that would be the best match for O'Connor's abilities, her parents sent her to El Paso, Texas to live with her grandmother to attend school. In El Paso, young Sandra attended the Radford School for Girls followed by Austin High School.  She spent her summers at the Lazy B and lived with her grandmother during the school year. A successful student, she graduated high school at the early age of sixteen.

Sandra Day O’Connor’s father had aspired to attend Stanford University. However, after his father’s death, D.A. had returned to the Lazy B at the request of the lawyers handling the estate.  Sandra thus aimed to live out D.A.'s dream.  After graduating from high school in 1946, she applied to Stanford University despite the probability that she might not be accepted because she was a woman. Competing against many other applicants, she was accepted.

Sandra excelled and became Senior Class President at Stanford.  In a program in which she finished two degrees in just six years instead of seven, she graduated in 1950 with a bachelor's degree in economics and received her law degree in 1952. While in law school, she was a member of the board of editors for the Stanford Law Review , a very high honor for a law student.  Upon graduation, she was at the top of her class, graduating third out of 102 students. O'Connor was just two places behind a fellow law student and friend who went on to become Supreme Court justice, William H. Rehnquist (1924–2005).

• 1930: Born in El Paso, Texas on March 26
• 1946: Graduates from Austin High School in El Paso at age 16
• 1950: Receives bachelor's degree in economics from Stanford
• 1952: Receives law degree from Stanford, marries classmate John Jay O'Connor III
• 1952-1957: Works as attorney in San Mateo, CA and Germany
• 1957-1962: Moves to Phoenix, AZ, three sons are born
• 1965: Becomes an Arizona Assistant Attorney General
• 1969: Appointed to Arizona State Senate
• 1972: Chosen by colleagues as Arizona State Senate Majority Leader
• 1974: Elected Maricopa County Superior Court judge
• 1979: Appointed to Arizona Court of Appeals
• 1981: Nominated and confirmed to United States Supreme Court
• 2006: Retires from Supreme Court
• 2009: Founds Sandra Day O'Connor Institute for American Democracy
• 2023: Died in Phoenix, Arizona on December 1

Lawyer, Legislator, and Judge

After graduating from law school, O'Connor busily went about applying to law firms in San Francisco and Los Angeles, but because of the prejudices against women at that time, she could not get a job as a lawyer. She was offered a position as a legal secretary, which did not match her education and training. Instead, she took a position as a deputy county attorney in San Mateo, California, initially offering to work for no salary or office, and where she shared space with a secretary.  During this time, she also married John O'Connor, who was one class behind her at Stanford. Upon his completion of law school, the couple moved to Germany, where he served as an attorney in the U.S. Army. She then worked as a civilian attorney, specializing in contracts.

Upon their return to the United States, the O'Connors settled in the Phoenix, Arizona, area. O'Connor and another lawyer opened a law office in suburban Maryvale; but for the next few years she devoted most of her time to raising her three sons, who were born between 1957 and 1962. She also joined many groups becoming a volunteer to improve her community, and where O’Connor began to take an active role in local politics.

In 1965, O'Connor returned to full-time employment as one of Arizona's assistant attorneys general, to assist the chief law officer in the state. In 1969, the state senator from her legislative district resigned, leading Governor Jack Williams (1909–1998) to appoint O'Connor to replace the vacant seat. When the position next became open for election in 1970, O'Connor won it and was easily reelected in 1972. She was chosen as the Republican majority leader by her colleagues in in the state senate in 1972, the first woman in the country to hold that position.

In 1974, O'Connor chose to leave the state senate and legislature to enter the judicial branch of government, becoming a county judge in the Maricopa County Superior Court. In 1979 Bruce Babbitt (1938–), the governor of Arizona, elevated her with an appointment to the Arizona Court of Appeals.   O'Connor became a founder of both the Arizona Women Lawyers Association and the National Association of Women Judges.

Making History

During the final month of the 1980 presidential campaign, candidate Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) needed more support from female voters. He stated that if he were elected, he would appoint a woman to the U.S. Supreme Court. In July 1981, President Reagan kept his promise and nominated Sandra Day O'Connor. The Senate quickly confirmed her 99-0, with only the absent Senator Max Baucus not able to participate in the historic vote.   Thus, Sandra Day O’Connor became the first female justice in the 191-year history of the Supreme Court.  At the time she was nominated by President, she became the first person appointed to the nation’s court in 24 years who had state court experience and the first justice in 32 years with lawmaking experience having served in a state legislature.

During her remarkable Supreme Court tenure which spanned nearly a quarter century, O’Connor played a crucial role in many key decisions, and was highly regarded an independent thinker and a leader on the court.

During the commencement speech she gave at Stanford in 2004, she reflected on her appointment by President Reagan:

“His decision was as much a surprise to me as it was to the nation as a whole. But Ronald Reagan knew that his decision wasn’t about Sandra Day O’Connor; it was about women everywhere. It was about a nation that was on its way to bridging a chasm between genders that had divided us for too long.”

O’Connor retired on January 31, 2006.  Reflecting the trailblazing nature of her career, only 2 percent of law students were women at the time she attended in the 1950s. By the time she retired in 2006, that percentage had risen to 48 percent.

Founded in 2009 by retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the O’Connor Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3), continues her distinguished legacy and lifetime work to advance American democracy through multigenerational civil discourse, civic engagement and civics education.

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THE SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR INSTITUTE IS A 501 (C) (3) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION. TAX ID: 26-3521510 TERMS OF USE   •   PRIVACY POLICY

Sandra "Pepa" Denton

Who Is Sandra "Pepa" Denton?

Childhood and education.

Sandra "Pepa" Denton was born on November 9, 1969, in Kingston, Jamaica. She was the youngest of eight children, and she lived on a farm with her grandmother until she was 6 years old. She then moved to the borough of Queens in New York City, where her parents had moved three years earlier and her older siblings had gradually followed. She eventually graduated from high school in Queens and enrolled in nursing courses at Queensborough Community College.

Creation of Salt-N-Pepa

While in college, Denton met fellow student Cheryl James. The two became fast friends and also began working part-time at a Sears department store. There they met aspiring producer Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor, who asked the two young women to rap on a song he was putting together. The result, titled "The Show Stopper," was released as a single in 1985 and became an underground hit. The duo of Denton and James named themselves Salt-N-Pepa, and with Azor as their manager and Pamela Latoya Greene joining them as their DJ, they were signed by the label Next Plateau. The group's debut album, Hot, Cool & Vicious , was released in 1986.

Commercial Success: "Push It," "Whatta Man" and "Shoop"

Salt-N-Pepa moved beyond local hip-hop success to wider fame when a remix of their B-side "Push It" was released nationally in 1988 and became a hit. That year they replaced Green with a new DJ, Deidra "Spinderella" Roper, and released their second album, A Salt with a Deadly Pepa . Their third album, Blacks' Magic , included their biggest hit to date, the frankly worded "Let's Talk About Sex."

Their fourth album, 1993's Very Necessary , completed Salt-N-Pepa's transition from New York rap to the top of the national pop charts. Its singles included "Shoop," "Whatta Man" (for which they teamed up with the R&B group En Vogue) and "None of Your Business," a Grammy winner for Best Rap Performance in 1994. However, their fifth album, Brand New (1997), turned out to be their last.

By the time Salt-N-Pepa officially parted ways in 2002, they were recognized as one of the first and most important female hip-hop groups and as musicians who successfully bridged the worlds of rap and pop. Other women in hip-hop, from Queen Latifah to Missy Elliott to Lil' Kim, say that Denton, James and Roper have inspired and influenced them.

Other Projects

Denton has made a number of film and television appearances throughout her career. She and James both appeared in the 1993 comedy film Who's the Man? with Dr. Dre . They starred in the reality series The Salt-N-Pepa Show in 2007, and Pepa then struck out on her own with the autobiography Let's Talk About Pep (2008) and a television show of the same title (2010). In her book and her show, Denton revealed her own past as a sexual abuse victim, and she continues to speak out about sexual violence against women. She is also a supporter of Lifebeat, an organization that works to educate young people about HIV/AIDS.

Personal Life

Denton was married to the rapper Anthony ("Treach") Criss, from the group Naughty by Nature, from 1999 to 2001. The couple had a daughter named Egypt Criss in 1998. Denton also has a son named Tyran Moore Jr., born in 1990, from a relationship with Tyran Moore.

QUICK FACTS

• Name: Sandra Denton
• Birth Year: 1969
• Birth date: November 9, 1969
• Birth City: Kingston
• Birth Country: Jamaica
• Gender: Female
• Best Known For: Sandra Denton is best known as "Pepa" from the groundbreaking, all-female hip-hop group Salt-N-Pepa.
• Astrological Sign: Scorpio

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CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Sandra "Pepa" Denton Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/musicians/sandra-pepa-denton
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: January 25, 2021
• Original Published Date: April 2, 2014
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Sandra Cisneros Biography

Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago in 1954, the only daughter in a family of seven children. The Cisneros family traveled frequently between Chicago and Mexico to visit relatives, often settling in a different home upon each return. The family resided for the majority of Sandra’s youth in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.

Growing up in a home where library cards were mandatory, Sandra retreated into books and began to express herself in poetry. It was in high school, at St. Josephinum in Chicago, that Cisneros first found an outlet and discovered acceptance for her creativity. Encouraged by a teacher, Cisneros wrote poetry and became willing to share her work with her young peers. She worked on a high school literary magazine, eventually becoming editor. Cisneros went on to study English at Loyola University of Chicago, and in 1978 received her M.F.A. in creative writing from the renowned University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop.

Upon graduating from the Writers’ Workshop, Cisneros returned to Chicago and took a job teaching at the Latino Youth Alternative High School, a facility for high school dropouts. In her free time she wrote and submitted poems to literary journals with some success. She read her poems to club and coffee shop audiences, gradually earning a local reputation.

In 1982, Cisneros received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. With the award money she went to Europe, where she wrote The House on Mango Street . Drawing on the rootlessness of her childhood, the book created a vibrant picture of one girl’s idealization of “home.” (The house from the title is a composite of the author’s many homes, but is placed on a street, Mango Street, where the Cisneros family never actually lived.) Published in 1984, the book gained international acclaim, winning Cisneros the American Book Award. Today, The House on Mango Street is required reading in schools throughout the United States.

In 1985 came the publication of Antojitos (Arte Publico) and The Rodrigo Poems (Third Woman). In 1987 Cisneros’ master’s thesis, My Wicked, Wicked Ways , was revised and expanded, then published by Third Woman Press. This collection of poems touches upon a mélange of topics—among them female emancipation, friendship and self-identity.

With her book Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories (1991), Cisneros became the first Chicana author to sign with a major American publisher, Random House. Depicting the lives of Chicana women in the San Antonio area, the book garnered both critical and popular acclaim and earned the author the financial stability she would need to be a full-time writer.

Cisneros’ long-awaited second novel, Caramelo (Knopf, 2002), fictionalized the author’s family, highlighting a trip between Chicago and Mexico and the main character’s conversion from child to young adult. Caramelo was selected as notable book of the year by the New York Times , the Los Angeles Times , the San Francisco Chronicle , the Chicago Tribune and the Seattle Times . In 2005 Caramelo was awarded the Premio Napoli and was short listed for the Dublin International IMPAC Award. Her most recent book is Have You Seen Marie? (Random House, 2012), an illustrated fable for adults.

Sandra Cisneros’ books have been translated into over a dozen languages, including Spanish, Galician, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Norwegian, Japanese, Chinese, Turkish, Greek, Thai and Serbo-Croatian. Cisneros has been visiting writer at a number of universities, including the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and is currently writer-in-residence at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio. Cisneros’ daring and original works have won her numerous awards and fellowships including, in 1995, the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. She is the president and founder of the Macondo Foundation, an association of writers dedicated to social involvement. She also directs the Alfredo Cisneros Del Moral Foundation, granting funds to Texas writers.

Sandra Cisneros continues to write poetry and prose and is working on a collection of fiction titled Infinito , a children’s book titled Bravo, Bruno and a book about writing that she will call Writing in My Pajamas .

• “About Sandra Cisneros.” 2008. www.sandracisneros.com
• “Sandra Cisneros.” Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2003.
• “Sandra Cisneros.” Authors and Artists for Young Adults. Gale, 2003.
• “Sandra Cisneros.” Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2nd ed. Gale Research, 1998.
• “Sandra Cisneros.” Contemporary Hispanic Biography. Gale, 2002.
• “Sandra Cisneros.” Notable Hispanic American Women. Gale, 1993.

Content last updated: April 30, 2009

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